Kraftwerk - Toccata Electronica 1995

Reloaded 14/May/2015 One of my favourite 'unofficial' recordings by any artist. The various remixes are clearly very professional and also quite intriguing. The bands minimalist approach on their website and other searches I have made don't give much away about this recording. It is clear however that some mainstream music websites are unaware this was never officially released by the band. 
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Toccata Electronica is possibly the most stunning bootleg of Kraftwerk ever 'released'. Comprising of rare and different remixes of many well known Kraftwerk songs this bootleg first surfaced in 1995 as a CD with professional looking packaging and high quality audio. Different pressings including differing artwork and CD labels are in circulation however the front cover is usually the one shown opposite.

On one CD version the band are called 'Kundendienst' and Kraftwerk are not mentioned on this CD at all. On another version released as a CD the band is confirmed as Kraftwerk but the album is called "Kundendienst". Toccata Electronica is however overwhelmingly the most produced and circulated version of this compilation both as CD and as music files on line.

There remains a significant error on this release namely track eight which contains a sample taken from the Kraftwerk song Home Computer but the song is actually by a techno group called 'Time To Time' who comprised of Martin Recke, Stefan Grino and Udo Weiler. 

Like many other so-called Krautrock bands Kraftwerk was heavily influenced by the pioneering compositions of Karlheinz Stockhausen. Hütter has also listed The Beach Boys as a major influence, which is apparent in its 1975 chart smash, Autobahn. Fellow bandmember Joey Pursel also made a similar remark comparing Kraftwerk's German identity to the Kinks and their strongly-English brand of pop/rock.

Kraftwerk's lyrics deal with post-war European urban life and technology—traveling by car on the Autobahn, traveling by train, using home computers, and the like. Usually, the lyrics are very minimal but reveal both an innocent celebration of, and a knowing caution about, the modern world, as well as playing an integral role in the rhythmic structure of the songs. Many of Kraftwerk's songs express the paradoxical nature of modern urban life—a strong sense of alienation existing side-by-side with a celebration of the joys of modern technology.

All of Kraftwerk's albums from Radio-Activity onwards have been released in separate versions: one with German vocals for sale in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and one with English vocals for the rest of the world, with occasional variations in other languages when conceptually appropriate. 

Source: Studio Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3 variable 242kbps average.

Genre: Electronic music, synthpop, Krautrock, experimental music.

Album: Full original version.

Track List:

01. Computer World (Robotron-Mix) [0:05:41.97]
02. Tour de France (Orig. 1983 Kevorkian Ext. 12" Remix) [0:06:46.22]
03. Techno Pop (1983 Version) [0:04:34.93]
04. Metropolis (Machine-Version) - Live Utrecht 10.12.81 [0:05:37.64]
05. The Model (Catbonic-Mix) [0:05:19.53]
06. Neon Lights (Ton-Up-Mix) [0:05:25.33]
07. Pocket Calculator (East-West-Mix) [0:05:22.13]
08. Zehn kleine Negerlein [0:04:49.80] * NOT Kraftwerk
09. Radioactivity (Kevorkian 12"-Remix) [0:07:27.36]
10. (Demo) Die Roboter (Special German Kling-Klang-Remix) [0:03:42.97]
11. Les Mannequins (Orig. 1978 Ext. French Remix) [0:06:03.69]
12. Dentaku (Orig. 1981 Ext.-Remix) [0:04:56.64]
13. Tour de France (Orig. 1983 German Kling-Klang-Version) [0:06:51.66]
14. Stratovarius (Live Bremen 21.6.71) [0:05:38.33]

Website: Official HERE.

Reloaded 14/May/2015 - download link in comments.

Kraftwerk - Tokyo 1981

This is the second concert from Kraftwerk during their 1981 tour, to be featured on Beehive Candy.

The tour itself, was more or less divided into two parts.

The first tour started May 19th, 1981 at Apollo Teatro, Firenze in Italy and kept going until they had played in Bombay, India on September 25th.

Then they went back to Europe and enjoyed a small break until November 19th when they started a smaller tour with concerts mostly in Germany.

The last concert was held in the venue Zeppelin in Bremen, on December 14th. During the year 1981 Kraftwerk performed on more than 80 occasions in 16 countries.

This recording is from their performance in Tokyo, Japan at the Nakano Sun Plaza on the 7th September 1981.

It has been circulated I understand, as "Virtu ex Machina", and the set list (edited, however a large part of the show nonetheless) is as follows:

01 - Beethoven (Intro)
02 - Nummern
03 - Komputerwelt
04 - Komputerliebe
05 - Heimkomputer
06 - Neonlicht
08 - Schaufensterpuppen
09 - Trans Europa Express
10 - Die Roboter
11 - It's more fun to compute

The sound quality is extremely good (stereo soundboard or high quality FM)

DOWNLOAD LINK IS IN COMMENTS BELOW.

A few Kraftwerk CD options in store HERE and HERE. First Kraftwerk 1981 concert post HERE.

Kraftwerk - Live In London 1981

This is Kraftwerk live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on the 3rd July 1981.

This is one of those annoying 'I was there' posts, yep that may be me somewhere in the crowd cheering, applauding or yelping, and why not, it was one of the best live concerts I have ever attended - not a comment I make lightly!


Everything about them was refreshing.

Ralf Hutter's occasional ad lib's and his sheer intensity at times as he sung.

The use of electronic drum pads, and the whole tightness & rhythm of the band.

The simpler & very different lighting for that period, a generous helping of neon would you believe?

The uncanny resembling dummies, or was that robots?

Letting the audience join in during the encore using handheld devices (circa pocket calculator).

Most of all it was the underlying humour, the knowing smiles between each other that became laughter if one of them got something wrong. I expected technical efficiency, I got a band playing live and rocking in their own style.

This was part of the Computer World tour, and is summarised well from the current Wikipedia entry - "the band effectively packed up its entire Kling Klang studio and took it on the road with them. The band also developed an increasing use of visual elements in the live shows during this period. This included back-projected slides and films, increasingly synchronized with the music as the technology developed, an experimental light-beam activated drum cage allowing Flür to trigger electronic percussion through arm gestures, use of hand-held miniaturized instruments during the set, and, perhaps most famously, the use of replica mannequins of themselves to perform onstage during the song "The Robots."

I actually only received a copy of this specific concert recently, I am delighted with the sound quality. The set list is:

1 Intro - Numbers
2 Computer world
3 Computer love
4 Home computer
5 The model
6 Neon lights
7 Radioactivity
8 The voice of energy
9 Ohm sweet ohm
10 Autobahn
11 Hall of mirrors
12 Showroom dummies
13 Trans Europe Express
14 Pocket calculator
15 The robots
16 It's more fun to compute

I do not have details of the source, its very good audio quality - click on the links to download.

Some Kraftwerk Cd options HERE.

New file link in comments below - Re-uploaded 2012 (Stealth project).